How Do I Modify PC Floppy TO Become Amiga Floppy?

04 August 2001, 06:50

Hi,

Does anyone know how to modify a PC floppy to work as a Amiga Floppy?

From the Aminet, it was said that the Panasonic floppy model JU-257 can be converted to become an Amiga floppy and used with A1200. I have one such floppy (JU-257A137P) but don't seem to have the words RY or DC on the board as instructed. The web page is here : http://www.carrott.org/amiga/floppy.html

Can anyone help me. Thanks

Amiga1992 · 04 August 2001, 22:22

You dont need to modify that drive AFAIK, if you want to run some stuff. Just change the switches that are on the back of teh drive until they work on your miggy. I had one of thsoe myself and it worked fine except for the changedisk bug. You have to modify it to fix that.

07 August 2001, 16:14

If you cannot find the jumpers on the drive's board then just swap lines 2 and 34 of the floppycable. ( Ready & Diskchange )
I don't know the Panasonic drive, but the described hack says that the jumpers are on the other side of the board. So you would have to remove the board from the drive first to see them. However, I'd better just swap the lines becuase it may be possible that the track 0 sensor is fixed on the drive's mainboard and once you removed the screws you will not find the correct position again, ending up with a misaligned drive

As I said, I have never seen this particular drive...

Hope this helps,

Overdoc

Amiga1992 · 07 August 2001, 19:08

Why dont you register here? It's a great board

BTW I assume you already got around the Amiga drive problem?

07 August 2001, 21:17

Yeah, it's a great board

The only reason for me not being here often is that my browser hangs up in about 80% of all times I try to visit this board

I don't know what's the reason, but it must have something to do with the picture display, because when I disable picture display in my IE 4.0 then I have no problems.
Anyway, maybe something has been changed in the board here because now it seems to hang up less often.

About the drive:
I haven't been able to modify the PC drive so that it works 100%. Whatever I do, it does load ok with Amigados programs like Workbench, but doesn't continue loading after e.g. an intro in games that use their own loader

But I managed to realign the guy's Amiga drive so he can finally play Fate Gates of Dawn with his real A-500 again

Btw, will I be a 'PET 2001 owner' once I register ?

Overdoc

Amiga1992 · 07 August 2001, 21:28

Yes you can be a PET2001 owner if you want

I've been looking onto one of those, heavy beasts! I'll have enough problems hauling the SX64 from the States, I don't want to imagine the trouble of bringing a PET!

28 September 2001, 17:29

Quote:

Originally posted by Unregistered
Yeah, it's a great board
The only reason for me not being here often is that my browser hangs up in about 80% of all times I try to visit this board
I don't know what's the reason, but it must have something to do with the picture display, because when I disable picture display in my IE 4.0 then I have no problems.
Anyway, maybe something has been changed in the board here because now it seems to hang up less often.

About the drive:
I haven't been able to modify the PC drive so that it works 100%. Whatever I do, it does load ok with Amigados programs like Workbench, but doesn't continue loading after e.g. an intro in games that use their own loader
But I managed to realign the guy's Amiga drive so he can finally play Fate Gates of Dawn with his real A-500 again

Btw, will I be a 'PET 2001 owner' once I register ?

Overdoc

good day boys and girls... was reading this post and noticed something odd "prolly just me

anyway i remember somewhere on other amiga sites and aminet about the fact that "PC drives" Can't be used with the amiga because of the fact that amiga drives "Write tracks in a odd format designed into it's drive" something in the order of 11sectors x 1024 or something odd like that.. and PC drives write 9 x 512 ? tho i'm most likely wrong on this info for sure.. i do remember seeing a paper about how drives write and i DO remember it saying that a PC drive "Can't be used in a Amiga"..and i do remember Dave Hayne even saying it couldn't ...as i am a PC tech and a old "Semi Amiga Tech of sorts" if i am wrong PLEASE someone let me know..

i'm happy to be corrected

but as far as i know it won't work.. if it does.. someone tell me how.. i'd love to fit a 1.44HD "PC " floppy drive in my A2000 and A1200 .

and please forgive me if i have made any offence to anyone.. it's been some time since i was deeply in the amiga field and i'm slowly coming back thanx to some friends

and i'm glad to see the amiga still alive and kicking .

any and all info and handshakes gladly accepted

Thanx,
//admin: please don't use direct signature in your post, configure your UcerCP instead.

Amiga1992 · 28 September 2001, 18:35

As I said, my Amiga drive is a modified PC drive. You CAN"t use a PC drive DIRECTLY without modifying it.

There is another choice, the Kylwalda floppy controller. This will allow you to use any unmodified PC HD drive on your Amiga (as an 880KB drive though). It costs 15 bucks from most respectable Amiag shops around.

28 September 2001, 19:00

Quote:

Originally posted by Akira
As I said, my Amiga drive is a modified PC drive. You CAN"t use a PC drive DIRECTLY without modifying it.

There is another choice, the Kylwalda floppy controller. This will allow you to use any unmodified PC HD drive on your Amiga (as an 880KB drive though). It costs 15 bucks from most respectable Amiag shops around.

thank you Akira

i'll have to start checking on this stuff..and see what it's like

soo nice to have smart amigians around here

kudo's

Dan,
//admin: please don't use direct signature in your post, configure your UcerCP instead.

.... Captian's Log..... Subliminal...:suspiciou

05 October 2001, 12:49

Hello ppl, i have removed my fdd from my pc and after make a little modifications on the floppy cable from the amiga the drive works very nice

Drake1009 · 05 October 2001, 13:21

Well if people are going to buy Floppy drives they might have to do it soon. This article (Though I haven't read all of it) seems to state that we might be without floppy drives after a while.

Quote:

Intel is finally inciting the death of the floppy drive and is calling on PC manufacturers big and small to stop supplying the once-capacious 1.44MB removable drive in the latter half of 2002.

---

Message edited by Amigaboy. Reason: Your HTML code was all messed up so I fixed it

Amiga1992 · 05 October 2001, 17:54

Argh! I better start stockpiling diskdrives then!!!

Intel bastards!!!!!!! they scerw up everything, todl ya!

Overdoc · 06 October 2001, 20:04

Quote:

Originally posted by Yellow_Devil
Hello ppl, i have removed my fdd from my pc and after make a little modifications on the floppy cable from the amiga the drive works very nice

Hey, Yellow Devil, could you explain how exactly you did that ?
Where did you get the instructions from, and which wires need to be modfied ?
I would be very happy if you really found an easy solution !
Please also test if it works with various games, too.
And from which manufacturer is your PC drive ?

Thanks

08 December 2002, 14:39

I recently fount the following drives:

Mitsumi D359T7
Sony mp-f17w-1

Can they be modified to work with amiga? I'm not planning to get a controller.

ElectroBlaster · 08 December 2002, 17:00

Hi guys!

I wish you could just buy a drive and plug it straight in any amiga but things are never simple are they

Anyway! I have messed around with quite a few floppy drives in my time and have had luck from unexpected sources! I remember being given this old crappy penty75 so i stripped it out for usefull stuff.. its floppy drive was in very good condition and with a bit of tweaking i managed to get it working 100%! this drive was old tho! made in 1993 if i remember? anyway moved some jumpers at random until it could load and format etc... i think the drive was a Mitsubishi!

I think the easiest solution right now is to visit Eyetech and buy the EZ-DF0 adaptor which allows off the shelf pc floppy drives to work as amiga units without messing around with jumpers or cables! i have one in my tower and im going to buy another for my a1200 which has an original Teac unit! i will buy a new teac drive and remove the front bezal and use the amiga's original floppy button... no case hacking then

here is the web link for eyetech
*Oh! it states the EZ-DF0 is for Sony drives! ignore it! it works with loads of drives

http://www.eyetech.co.uk/search.php?...all+categories
Hope this helps you out

08 December 2002, 17:10

These drives cost me just 0.2$ and I'm not in need of a floppy replacement ATM. It would just be cool to be able to use these easily

Overdoc · 08 December 2002, 19:28

The Mitsubishi drive could be possible if it has jumpers for RD/DC and DS0/DS1 on the back.

08 December 2002, 22:31

Wel the drive is mitsumi, not mitsubishi and doesn't have jumpers. However, the Sony does. They look like, and set like that but this doesn't work. On the Os 3.9 desktop, it says DF0:Unreadable DF1:Unreadable DF2:Unreadable DF3:Unreadable when a disk is inserted

ElectroBlaster · 08 December 2002, 22:45

That looks just like that Mitsubishi drive I got.... i still have it i think... all my spare amiga stuff is stored away!
I seem to remember scanning the drive so people could track one down for themselves and have it working in a couple of minutes.

I will search and post this stuff up in the zone in the next few days if thats of any use to you all

08 December 2002, 22:56

That's cool! Thank you

04 August 2001, 06:50	#1
Unregistered Posts: n/a	How Do I Modify PC Floppy TO Become Amiga Floppy? Hi, Does anyone know how to modify a PC floppy to work as a Amiga Floppy? From the Aminet, it was said that the Panasonic floppy model JU-257 can be converted to become an Amiga floppy and used with A1200. I have one such floppy (JU-257A137P) but don't seem to have the words RY or DC on the board as instructed. The web page is here : http://www.carrott.org/amiga/floppy.html Can anyone help me. Thanks

07 August 2001, 19:08	#4
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Hey Overdoc! Why dont you register here? It's a great board BTW I assume you already got around the Amiga drive problem?

08 December 2002, 22:31	#18
oldpx Posts: n/a	Wel the drive is mitsumi, not mitsubishi and doesn't have jumpers. However, the Sony does. They look like, and set like that but this doesn't work. On the Os 3.9 desktop, it says DF0:Unreadable DF1:Unreadable DF2:Unreadable DF3:Unreadable when a disk is inserted Attached Thumbnails

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04 August 2001, 22:22	#2
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	You dont need to modify that drive AFAIK, if you want to run some stuff. Just change the switches that are on the back of teh drive until they work on your miggy. I had one of thsoe myself and it worked fine except for the changedisk bug. You have to modify it to fix that.

07 August 2001, 16:14	#3
Unregistered Posts: n/a	If you cannot find the jumpers on the drive's board then just swap lines 2 and 34 of the floppycable. ( Ready & Diskchange ) I don't know the Panasonic drive, but the described hack says that the jumpers are on the other side of the board. So you would have to remove the board from the drive first to see them. However, I'd better just swap the lines becuase it may be possible that the track 0 sensor is fixed on the drive's mainboard and once you removed the screws you will not find the correct position again, ending up with a misaligned drive As I said, I have never seen this particular drive... Hope this helps, Overdoc

07 August 2001, 21:17	#5
Unregistered Posts: n/a	Yeah, it's a great board The only reason for me not being here often is that my browser hangs up in about 80% of all times I try to visit this board I don't know what's the reason, but it must have something to do with the picture display, because when I disable picture display in my IE 4.0 then I have no problems. Anyway, maybe something has been changed in the board here because now it seems to hang up less often. About the drive: I haven't been able to modify the PC drive so that it works 100%. Whatever I do, it does load ok with Amigados programs like Workbench, but doesn't continue loading after e.g. an intro in games that use their own loader But I managed to realign the guy's Amiga drive so he can finally play Fate Gates of Dawn with his real A-500 again Btw, will I be a 'PET 2001 owner' once I register ? Overdoc

07 August 2001, 21:28	#6
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Yes you can be a PET2001 owner if you want I've been looking onto one of those, heavy beasts! I'll have enough problems hauling the SX64 from the States, I don't want to imagine the trouble of bringing a PET!

28 September 2001, 18:35	#8
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	As I said, my Amiga drive is a modified PC drive. You CAN"t use a PC drive DIRECTLY without modifying it. There is another choice, the Kylwalda floppy controller. This will allow you to use any unmodified PC HD drive on your Amiga (as an 880KB drive though). It costs 15 bucks from most respectable Amiag shops around.

05 October 2001, 12:49	#10
Yellow_Devil Posts: n/a	Hello ppl, i have removed my fdd from my pc and after make a little modifications on the floppy cable from the amiga the drive works very nice

05 October 2001, 17:54	#12
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Argh! I better start stockpiling diskdrives then!!! Intel bastards!!!!!!! they scerw up everything, todl ya!

08 December 2002, 14:39	#14
oldpx Posts: n/a	I recently fount the following drives: Mitsumi D359T7 Sony mp-f17w-1 Can they be modified to work with amiga? I'm not planning to get a controller.

08 December 2002, 17:00	#15
ElectroBlaster Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Exeter, Devon, UK Age: 49 Posts: 1,705	Hi guys! I wish you could just buy a drive and plug it straight in any amiga but things are never simple are they Anyway! I have messed around with quite a few floppy drives in my time and have had luck from unexpected sources! I remember being given this old crappy penty75 so i stripped it out for usefull stuff.. its floppy drive was in very good condition and with a bit of tweaking i managed to get it working 100%! this drive was old tho! made in 1993 if i remember? anyway moved some jumpers at random until it could load and format etc... i think the drive was a Mitsubishi! I think the easiest solution right now is to visit Eyetech and buy the EZ-DF0 adaptor which allows off the shelf pc floppy drives to work as amiga units without messing around with jumpers or cables! i have one in my tower and im going to buy another for my a1200 which has an original Teac unit! i will buy a new teac drive and remove the front bezal and use the amiga's original floppy button... no case hacking then here is the web link for eyetech *Oh! it states the EZ-DF0 is for Sony drives! ignore it! it works with loads of drives http://www.eyetech.co.uk/search.php?...all+categories Hope this helps you out

08 December 2002, 17:10	#16
oldpx Posts: n/a	These drives cost me just 0.2$ and I'm not in need of a floppy replacement ATM. It would just be cool to be able to use these easily

08 December 2002, 19:28	#17
Overdoc Commodore Collector Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Austria Age: 53 Posts: 944	The Mitsubishi drive could be possible if it has jumpers for RD/DC and DS0/DS1 on the back.

08 December 2002, 22:45	#19
ElectroBlaster Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Exeter, Devon, UK Age: 49 Posts: 1,705	That looks just like that Mitsubishi drive I got.... i still have it i think... all my spare amiga stuff is stored away! I seem to remember scanning the drive so people could track one down for themselves and have it working in a couple of minutes. I will search and post this stuff up in the zone in the next few days if thats of any use to you all

08 December 2002, 22:56	#20
oldpx Posts: n/a	That's cool! Thank you

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